Where is anaaga, you ask? Well, she got some club stuff to deal with and as I’ve become quite a fan of this series, I volunteered to cover for her. I also want to propagate the fact that more people should watch sports anime! Not all of them are BL-baits or boring. No, I swear, there is no ulterior motive involved on this plug, when the entire fandom is shipped right, left and center under different genres. Otakus are powerful beings after all! But the adrenaline rush of sports anime when the team/players you are rooting when they are under pressure against strong teams and in the process of winning or actually win is a one of a kind feeling. Also, damn the Trickster, Japanese Police better catch him soon!

Teppei’s such a BRO!

Moving towards the actual review, in this episode, we are done with Teppei’s MANRY TEARFUL story. Seriously, this dude is too dedicated to basketball but who isn’t when you observe most of the players in this series setting? Though, sacrificing full recovery just for the thrill of playing with your team is something alright. From joining the team as a no-entity to becoming the towering high for Seirin in a few episodes is what you call good character development. Of course, this is needed because Seirin is facing their important preliminary match for the Winter cup selection. So, I had to whoop with joy, seeing the team spirit surrounding him with fightoon, proved with the careful alley-oop play for the first dunk. Everything came back to facing not only the guy (Hanamiya), who was behind inflaming Teppei’s injury but showing one of the foulest teams their rightful place.

Game of Fouls

Now, I have seen a lot of sports anime and there is always a team that you end up hating either because it contains one of the most hated character(s) or they use underhanded tactics to win. Kirisaki Dai Ichi has both and man, do I hate them. Hanamiya’s character pissed me off from the moment he appeared on-screen. His cat-calls and loathsome hand-flick really made me flip a table in the previous episode but in this episode, he really made me foam at mouth with many swear words. Of course, you can’t expect any less from Fukuyama Jun, who does both side of good and evil very well. So, hating him came naturally and he’ not alone in my hate-list because every Dai Ichi player is ground-trodden scum! The way this team behaved by rough-housing every Seirin player, not to mention sleazily delivering all blows from referee’s blindside was more than malicious. If I were in the audience with Tōō and Kaijō peeps, I would be throwing rotten vegetables at them and right on their ugly mugs too.

Therefore, I’m not surprised to see even a happy-go-lucky character like Teppei, who is the rock for Seirin boil in rage against Dai Ichi. I played basketball in school and I did have fun in trundling past midget players but I never thought of elbowing or kneeing them as a strategy to win. Strategy in any kind of game is very important but bending the rules and always looking for loopholes rather than actually working hard is unforgivable in my books. And Dai Ichi takes using dirty tricks to the next level. Rather than using actual game strategy like any half-decent team, they specialize in using foul-play as their weapon. Somebody needs to show them how it’s done and of course my bet’s on Seirin for this role.

Our boys have grown up from the nascent stages and every player on the court is strong in their own right and I’m not just talking about Kuroko and Kagami. Hyuga and Izuki have done their part in training and power ups as well. Even if Hyuga is rattled by Hanamiya, seeing Teppei in trouble, I see him coming around soon enough. And even if Kagami’s rage is more than the entire team’s combined, Kuroko and Riko can keep him in line. Seirin has to play as one body, with the five players moving in accord together to make the win against Dai Ichi. The way Teppei has taken the inside defense, he will be going through a world of pain by next episode in sustaining all the low and wide punches. Other Seirin boys need to come to his aid and showcase what a great team they have become with their teamwork.

Kise is tired of being paired against the torturous Aoimine in djs and hatin’ his life

In another note, Hanamiya, YOU are so going down! (Ò ‸ Ó ╬)

Aaaah the continuing cliffhangers of sports anime! It always leaves me shaking my fist but that’s part of the fun. I can always switch to manga in my fumes of frustration but I won’t because this sense of what-will-happen-next keeps me on my toes and wait for the next episode. Things have really heated up with the foul tone of this match and a foreboding for Teppei’s ultimate collapse if he keeps up with his defensive position below the hoop. There is a need for more than cheering now and other Seirin players to pull their weight for the win.

In the end, they have to switch Teppei due to his deteriorating condition, but I spied another switch in Dai Ichi in preview as well. So, I see the foul play continue and the only counter for it being stronger team play from Seirin. Let’s cheer for the boys and hope Riko will keep them straight whenever they begin to trundle towards any trouble.

Preview:

It seem that the current match won’t finish by next episode but let’s hope for a painful defeat for Dai Ichi scum, shall we?

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The Boss lady of Metanorn, who makes it all happen. An animanga enthusiast, who watches/reads almost anything that strikes her fancy. Just beware of her Death Perception and always keep her happy. Regularly found at @KyokaiTM & [email protected].

6 Responses to “Kuroko no Basuke – 34”

Up until this episode, I completely forgot that referees existed in this anime. Other than calling fouls and throwing the ball up at the beginning of games, they’re out of picture.

So, when a team like Dai Ichi shows up, I wonder, “What are the referees doing?! Are they blind? Do they not look at game records? They might have blindsides, but they should know what a bruise looks like.”

My conclusion: in this anime, referees are basically stock characters. We don’t learn of their personalities or see their reactions to inhuman plays on the court. Why? They’re there for only one purpose, to… ‘refereee.’

Referees only exist and have some personality in anime when they are used to give the main team/players some tips. In terms of Kuroko, because they really don’t have any such interaction with certain referees, this point is moot and thus they become part of the background.

Though, it still pissed me off on how they overlook most players bruises from the Dai Ichi rough-housing. So yeah, they are there to deliver some typical lines for the audience’s chagrin.